One thing that has puzzled me is why Sony has decided to go for a hybrid design in the first place. The EX1000 is a pretty stellar driver and probably only needed a few tweaks to get it perfect for a lot of people (something in between the EX1000 and 7550 / EX800ST).

Nonetheless if they went the route of pumping up the bass response with the driver coupled with some good high frequency extension, I'm all good for it. As long as it doesn't end up incoherent.

I'm curious about the XBA-H2 which seems to be Japanese only. I wonder if they are the equivalent of the MDR-7550/EX-800 in this line.

I'm holding off until the whole line comes on sale. Kjk's translation has proven, they have a lot of potential, but as with any Hybrid, plenty could go wrong(in this case, the H2) Might have to wait until more reviews are out.